How to improve speaking skills in English

If you're struggling to improve your

speaking skills for the CELPIP, or

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just in general, then you need to

listen to today's mini episode, where

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I will answer one of the most common

questions that comes my way via email.

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I Don't get piles of email from my

listeners yet But I do get messages

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frequently from my website's contact

form and this question comes up

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on Pretty much a frequent basis.

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So I thought I'd answer it right

here The question goes like this I

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have my CELPIP exam in a week or two.

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How can I increase my speaking score?

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I got a 6 last time.

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I need a 9.

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Now this question is a bit extreme,

but the basic theme is the same for

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many of the questions that come my way.

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My CELPIP exam is coming soon, I need

a higher score than what I already

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have, what can I do to get it?

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I've got good news and

I've got bad news for you.

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If that's a question that

is on your mind today.

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So if it is on your mind.

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Please sit back and relax and enjoy

today's episode as I try my best

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to answer one of the most commonly

asked questions that come my way.

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Well, hello there and welcome to the Speak English Fearlessly podcast.

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This is the podcast for motivated

English learners who want

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to speak English fearlessly.

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And learn practical tips and

strategies to conquer the CELPIP exam.

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I also love to feature encouraging

interviews with regular people.

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People just like you, who are working

towards becoming fluent in English, so we

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can learn from their experiences together.

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Who am I?

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My name is Aaron Nelson, and I've been

an English teacher for over 17 years,

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and I now help students prepare for

the CELPIP exam through online classes.

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So, I mentioned that there is good

news and bad news in the introduction.

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So, first, let's get that bad

news out of the way, and maybe you

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already know what I'm going to say.

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If your current score on the

CELPIP is low, like a 5 or a 6,

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that is telling you something

about your current English level.

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At a 5 or a 6, your level of English

is around an intermediate level.

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Now, if your goal is to achieve a score

of 9, which is a very common score that

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people need for their immigration process,

then your level of English needs to

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be a strong upper intermediate level.

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To put that in perspective with

time, according to a research study

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done by Cambridge University, and I

will have a link to that in my show

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notes, it takes a motivated adult.

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Approximately 180 hours, up to 260 hours

of study to move from a lower intermediate

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to an upper intermediate level of English.

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I'm going to repeat that again

because it's really important.

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It takes a motivated adult approximately

Between 180 hours and 260 hours of study

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to move from a lower intermediate to

an upper intermediate level of English.

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That's a long time, isn't it?

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Consider this.

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If your average focus contact time in

English, where you're actively working

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on learning it, is just three hours a

week, meaning you're taking two one and

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a half hour classes each week and that's

all of your English contact where you're

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focused on trying to learn the language,

then it's going to take you, get ready for

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this, 86 weeks or about a year and a half.

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to move up from a lower intermediate

to an upper intermediate, or for you

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to go from that 6 on the CELPIP score

up to maybe a 9, a year and a half.

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So yeah, like I said before,

that's a long time, isn't it?

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Now results for sure will vary

for each person, But you should

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take this pretty seriously.

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That same study that I mentioned also

points out that the higher you go with

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your language skills, The longer it

takes to break into the next level.

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But something cool begins to happen.

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The more your skills develop, The less

guided help you need and the more you need

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to take advantage of the English happening

all around you like through movies or TV

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or the radio or conversations going on all

around you in English every single day.

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Being able to take advantage of

that on a more regular basis helps

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to multiply what you are learning.

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if you're taking advantage of it.

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So what does that all mean

for your question today?

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If that's the question that you've

been asking, can I go from a six to a

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nine in a really short period of time?

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Is it possible to go from a six

to a nine in just a few weeks?

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Well, the answer is, it

depends, but likely no.

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The it depends part means you need

to already have a strong upper

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intermediate level of English in order

to achieve a 9 or more on the exam.

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You can't just magically pull your score

up by studying for the CELPIP exam harder.

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Remember.

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The CELPIP measures your

current level of English.

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If you want your score to go higher,

you need to focus on building your

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fluency skills in general, which for

most people, takes quite a long time.

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As I just mentioned, it can

take over a year to move from

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one level up to another one.

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So, if your score was low, but you know

you already have an upper intermediate

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level of English, then maybe you just

had a bad day when you wrote the exam.

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That happens to all of us.

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Taking some time to practice

for the exam will for sure help

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you be ready for the next one.

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And if you focus, you might be able to be

ready for another attempt in a few weeks.

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But like I said, only if your current

level of English is strong enough already

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can you expect to move from a 6 to a

9 in just that short space of time.

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But what can you do if your English

level isn't a strong upper intermediate

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and you are down, you know, maybe,

maybe you are at a lower intermediate

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or at a beginner level of English.

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For most people who asked me this

question This is the situation that

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they find themselves in their language

level isn't strong enough yet You want

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a higher score, and you need a higher

score, but you're still at a lower

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level of English than what you need

to be in order to achieve the results

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that you need on the CELPIP exam.

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So what can you do?

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Number one, focus on making

English a part of your day to-day

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as much as you possibly can.

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English should not be

something that you isolate.

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It should be something that you are doing

day in and day out as much as you can.

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The second thing that you need to

be doing is building relationships

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with native English speakers.

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Don't isolate from them.

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I know it can be scary, I know it can

be intimidating to be trying to use

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the limited English you might have with

someone who is a fluent native speaker.

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But those kinds of interactions are what

will help you to build your skills..

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It will help you to build your confidence,

it will help you to be learning new

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vocabulary, and it will give you

that vital practice that you need.

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In short, if I were to summarize

those two points, you need to increase

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your regular contact with English.

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Both in consuming it and producing it.

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Regular, consistent contact with

English where you are consuming

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it and producing it in meaningful

ways is the most important daily

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thing that you can be doing.

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And by consuming it, I mean

listening to it, reading it,

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listening to it, and reading it.

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And it can be doing things that you enjoy.

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You don't need to be increasing your

contact with English in a painful way.

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It doesn't have to be, you know,

like sitting in a classroom

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for nine hours during the day.

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on a day by day basis in order for

your English level to begin improving.

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No, you can be doing things that you

actually enjoy doing, like listening

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to your favorite songs in English,

to listening to radio programs in

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English, to be listening to TV shows.

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Uh, and movies, and engaging in

conversations with friends, all of

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those things, if you're doing it

in English, are helpful for you.

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If you're reading, for example, if you

like to read, if reading is your thing,

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are you reading an English book right now?

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Are you working on a novel?

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Or, uh, a nonfiction book.

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Do you have something that you

are reading on a daily basis that

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will help you to be building your

vocabulary and increasing your

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contact time with English and writing?

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I mean, that's on the

producing side of it, isn't it?

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We need to be.

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Actively using the language that we

have, be it a little bit or a lot of

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English, like our current level, even

if it's just a little bit, we should

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be trying to use what we have either

in writing emails or, or speaking with

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somebody that's on the producing side.

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of English.

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The consuming it is reading

it and listening to it.

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Producing it is speaking and writing it.

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You need to be doing all of those things

consistently on a day to day basis.

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The worst thing that you can be doing

is waiting for English to happen to you.

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Waiting for English class, for example,

to be your only space where you practice.

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And then everything else that

you do in the rest of the week

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is in your first language.

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That is a terrible thing

for you to be doing.

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Or, how about this one?

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Surrounding yourself with people

who only speak your first language.

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Oh man.

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Both of those practices are common.

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I know people who do this.

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But those two things, those two

things totally work against you.

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So don't do it.

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If you don't care about seeing your

English skills grow, then go ahead

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and just wait for your English

class to practice your English.

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And go ahead and surround yourself

with people who you can speak with

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easily in your first language.

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That is the best way to practice.

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That you can slow your

English development down.

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But if you're serious about

building your skills, then you

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need to do the opposite of that.

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You need to be increasing your contact

time with English as much as you can.

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Don't be waiting for the,

for those English classes to

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be practicing your English.

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You can be using English day

in and day out, especially if

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you already live in Canada.

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English is happening all around you.

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And I know it's scary.

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I know it's scary.

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I'm not trying to, to gloss over the

fact that using your English when

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it's not your first language is a

intimidating and scary thing to do.

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But my friend, My friend,

you need to do it.

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You need to push yourself to do it

each day, because the more you do, you

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will see that your skills will improve.

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It won't be like a light switch

where it just suddenly rockets up.

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But little by little, if you make

those little 1 percent improvements

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day in and day out, you're going

to see those skills improve.

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That is what you can be doing to improve

your speaking skills, to be improving

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your language skills so that you can go

from a six to a nine on the CELPIP exam.

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But like I said before, if you want

Your current level of English is really

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low if you're currently at a lower

intermediate level of English, for

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example, and that's not really low.

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You've been working on your

English for a while, if that is

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your current level of English, and

congratulations on achieving that level.

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But if your goal is to achieve that

nine on the CELPIP exam, and you

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are currently at a six, if that is

your current level of English, a

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lower intermediate level of English,

then you need to prepare yourself.

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to not be able to get that nine in

just a couple of weeks of study.

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It's just not going to happen.

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You need to be investing in developing

your English skills for, well, quite

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a while, probably close to a year.

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And I'm not saying that to discourage you.

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I'm not saying that to destroy your hopes.

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I'm telling you that because I want

you to have an honest, and realistic

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expectation of what you can accomplish.

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But honestly, if you devote hard

focus practice over the next year,

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you will be able to achieve that nine.

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So don't give up, you can do this.

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I hope that this helps you.

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I hope that this answers that question.

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If this is a question that you've

been wondering about and I just

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want to say thank you for listening.

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If you've been listening all the way

through today's episode and I will

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see you again next Tuesday for the

Speak English Fearlessly podcast.

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Have a great week.

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Bye bye.